william j



(No Model.) I

W. H. LOOP &.W. J. MEIKLEHAM.

DRIP PAN FOR GASOLENE STOVES.

No. 587,448. Patented Aug. 3,1897.

- UNITED STATES EEIcE.

PATENT WILLIAM H. LOOP, OF OOI-IOES, NEW YORK, AND WILLIAM J. MEIKLEHAM, OF DENVER, COLORADO.

DRIP-PAN FOR GASO LEN E-STOVES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Iatent No. 587,448, dated August 3, 1897.

Application filed I'ebruaryll, 1897. Serial No. 622,897. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, WILLIAM H. LOOP, residing at Oohoes, in the county of Albany and State of New York, and WILLIAM J. MEIKLEHAM, residing at Denver, in the county of Arapahoe and State of Colorado, citizens of the United States, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Drip- Pans for Gasolene-Stoves, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to such improvements and consists of the novel construction and combination of parts hereinafter described and subsequently claimed.

Reference may be had to the accompanying drawings, and the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

Similar letters refer to similar parts in both the figures.

Figure 1 of the drawings is a view in side elevation of the main parts of a gasolenestove, showing our improved drip-reservoir beneath, partly in section. Fig. 2 is a top plan View of our improved drip-reservoirdetached. V

A is the top of the stove, supported by the legs A. The supply-pipe A leading from a gasolene-tank, (not shown,) is supported by the legs and connects through the T A with the stand-pipe A, which connects with the burner-head A The apparatus is supplied with the usual valves A and A and drip-cup A All the foregoing being well-known parts of the usual gasolene-stove need not be more fully described.

It is a fact well known to-the users of a gasolene-stove that the flame is sometimes accidentally extinguished, as by a sudden draft of air or steam from overflowing liquids, and that the supply-drip of gasolene not being shut off the drip-cup A soon overflows. To meet such contingency, an open drip-pan is generally placed beneath to catch such overflow.

We have ascertained from actual investigation of many so-called explosions of gasolene-stoves that the danger resides wholly in the open drip-pan. The operator of the stove, not noticing the condition of the pan, relights the accidentally-extinguished fluid in the usual manner, the small quantity in the drip-cup ignites, and a portion of the ignited fluid, being forced over the edges of the cup, falls into the pan and suddenly ignites the whole volume, which throws large quantities of the burning fluid about the room and upon the person of the operator, generally setting the clothing on fire and frequently producing fatal burns.

Our improved pan is in the form of a reservoir B, having a top or cover B countersunk at itsmiddle part or funnel-shaped, so

'as to form descending planes extending to the middle of the cover, as shown. This cover catches all the overflow drip and conducts it to the middle orifice O, forming an inlet to the interior chamber 0 of the reservoir. The inlet is provided with a depending tube orfunnel 0 leading down to a level near the bottom of the reservoir-chamber, so that when the chamber is partly filled with the fluid O the latter will form a trap to prevent evaporation. We cover the mouth of the inlet with a metallic screen D, preferably made of fine copper wire woven to form meshes so small that the flame of the ignited fluid cannot pass through.

Dis a petcock for drawing oif the contents of the reservoir.

We are thus able to provide a drip-pan for gasolene stoves which is absolutely safe and free from all danger of explosion or ignition of its contents, thereby eliminating the principal element of danger connected with the use of gasolene-stoves and without materially 7 increasing the expenseof the apparatus.

WVe have shown the reservoir provided with a valved vent-opening at F, said opening being closed by a check-valve, as the ball F, which normally closes such opening, but is adapted to yield to permit the exit of air or gas from the reservoir before the same exerts sufficient pressure to force the liquid contents out through the drip-opening, as when the reservoir becomes heated by the combuse tion of the gasolene which adheres to the cover.

We have ascertained that when a trapped inlet-aperture is employed in a device of this class the accumulation of burning liquid in the concavity of the pan-top passes slowly through such opening and the top becomes so heated as to expand the gas Within the pan and to generate more gas from the liquid contents, and when the internal pressure has increased sufficiently the confined gas forces its Way past the trap and increases the combustion in the hollow of the pan-top unless means are employed to prevent such an occurrence.

By providing the Vent-opening in the pantop We provide means for the escape of the imprisoned gas from the pan gradually and Without adding to the combustion, and the check- Valve closes the opening as soon as the internal pressure is relieved, and thereby prevents the evaporation of the contents of the pan.

The ball may be made of aluminium or other light material.

The Valve-case F is provided with aflameproof screen cover F The inlet and wire screen may be of any desired size, constituting, if desired, the entire cover.

Our improved pan is also adapted for use with any kind of explosive burning fluid and may be employed as a drip-pan beneath a barrel or other storage-reservoir of such fluid.

WVhat We claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

In a gasolene-stove, the combination with the burner, of a drip'pan supported beneath the burner, a concaved top for the pan having an inlet-aperture in its lower portion; a finely-meshed metallic screen covering the inlet-aperture 5 trap mechanism for the inletaperture; a valve-case surrounding a ventaperture in the top of the pan; and a check- Valve for closing the vent-aperture, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof We have hereunto set our hands this 8th day of February, 1897.

WVM. H. LOOP. WILLIAM J. MEIKLEHAM. lVitnesses:

FRANK O. CURTIS, J. A. GRIFFIN. 

